Individual HRTF measurements for accurate obstacle sonification in an electronic travel aid for the blind

The article presents a study of virtual sound source localization errors with the use of personalized head related transfer functions (HRTFs) in light of design of an electronic travel aid for the blind. The proposed device for aiding visually disabled individuals in independent mobility requires pr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pec, M., Bujacz, M., Strumillo, P., Materka, A.
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic measurements
blindness
Head
Headphones
HRTF
Humans
Image converters
Image reconstruction
Layout
sonification
Streaming media
Time of arrival estimation
Transfer functions
Travel Aid
Online Access:Request full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The article presents a study of virtual sound source localization errors with the use of personalized head related transfer functions (HRTFs) in light of design of an electronic travel aid for the blind. The proposed device for aiding visually disabled individuals in independent mobility requires presentation of spatial sounds, which lead to the need to construct a system for efficient individual HRTF measurement. Measurements were performed for 15 sighted and blind individuals. Verification trials limited to the frontal hemisphere have shown that the localization of virtual sound sources can be performed with accuracy reaching average errors of 6.36deg in azimuth and 9.47deg in elevation.
DOI:10.1109/ICSES.2008.4673402